Marriage was a privilege which enabled for greater rights
Higher wages for men
Legal protections
Financial security for women, as their men would provide for them
However, women became a non-legal entity; husbands took over ownership of all their assets (though most women owned little, as prior to marriage their father legally owned their assets)
Was a sort of pact between men and women
Man provides the finances through his “hard work” and a job
Ultimate decision maker and leader of family, though he often consulted the wife come decision time
Expected to be disciplinary force but maintain even temperament
Responsible for safety of family
Was to be a role model for the type of man his daughter should want to marry
Women provides comfort for the man and makes home a warm and loving place through housework
Cook, care for children, sew clothing, laundry, cleaning
Homemaking was an art and privilege women could take pride in doing well
If husband could afford, a maid was often hired to aid homemaking
Were obligated to keep husbands and sons morally in line- not become overly selfish and desire too much sexual intercourse of squander money
Couples who deviated from this pact were rejected as outsiders as it was considered good etiquette of the time
As a result of this so-called “mutually beneficial pact,” the wife became, in a way, trapped in the marriage as they could not provide for themselves should there be a divorce
Divorce was, consequently, almost exclusively initiated by the man
A woman initiating marriage was seen as a hostile destruction of the family
Marriage was about the progression of society, not individual comfort
Therefore, to divorce is a ‘grave and mischievous departure from the requirements of the public interest in the sanctity and permanence of the marriage tie’ as one judge said in 1921
Divorce was highly shameful and very rare (.7 people per 1,000 per year)
Community pressured couples to not divorce as it was not proper etiquette and failure to progress society through the responsibilities of being a spouse
Sometimes community pressure of acceptable social behavior within marriages was the cause of a divorce in the first place, as couples felt they failed society
Marriage was the symbol of maturity and transition to adulthood, as you now properly contribute to society; in a sense, your birth was not a waste
People looked forward to it throughout their youth
Eight people per 1,000 population married per year
Shotgun marriages (one which is forced due to a pregnancy before hand) were common for young married couples
For couples married when 21 and under, 66% of first children were born within 7 months of marriage
For couples married when 25-30, only 25% of first children were born within 7 months of marriage
Median marriage age for men was about 26.5 and for women 23.5
Why did Ethan and Zeena not divorce?
Divorce was not an option for Ethan nor Zeena because due to underlying community pressure about the rules and purpose of marriage. In the early 1900’s, marriage was seen not as a path to express one’s love for another, but as a passage to adulthood for the progression of society. In a “proper” marriage, the husband and wife together were to raise their children following set gender roles. The male was to serve as an even-tempered role model for like whom his daughter should marry someday, provide financial support, and discipline children when necessary. He was the ultimate decision maker of the family: confident, decisive, and a leader (though he was also expected to consult to wife regarding major decisions). Ethan failed this role of marriage. He did not provide any children for Zeena, was not decisive or confident, and did not provide financial support. A divorce would have required him to not only fully accept his failure, but would also result in the community discovering his failure of society. He could not face the shame he would have to bear, not only for leaving Zeena financially alone, but for failing to progress society through a ‘proper’ marriage. Zeena, likewise, failed her marital role. Women of the time were to cook delicious meals, keep the house cozy and inviting, and keep their husband morally in line through their love. Zeena was too sick to cook, too tired for housemaking, and too cranky to devote herself to Ethan. She too could not face the shame which would come upon her should she divorce; Zeena failed society because she failed her marriage.
Article Analysis: "Ethan Frome as Fairy Tale" by Elizabeth Ammons
Claim: According to Elizabeth Ammons in “Ethan Frome as Fairy Tale”, Edith Wharton uses a fractured fairy tale story in Ethan Frome to teach readers that society, and social interaction in particular, force women to become “witches” (Ammons). Wharton's tale, like all fairy tales, reveals a universal truth about life and addresses elemental human fears. It is fractured because, rather than the prince charming and maiden princess living happily ever after, the maiden princess becomes an evil witch, as the story says all women do.
Support: Ammons supports her claim of Ethan Frome as a fractured fairy tale by highlighting the numerous parallels between the novella and traditional fairy tales. Ammons points out how the story is told as an orally passed on legend in a community, it “belongs to a community of people and has many variants” just like a fairy tale (Ammons). Furthermore, Ammon’s points out Wharton’s fondness for fairy-tale numbers, such as 7, explaining how the story teaches a “natural order” of the world, just like all fairy tales (Ammons). She also highlights Wharton's use of witch, maiden, and prince archetypes. Zeena is the jealous stepmother, a “perfect witch of nursery lore”, Mattie Silver is the maiden princess, proven by the emphasis on her “physical appearance,” and Ethan Frome is the prince charming (Ammons). Ammons supports her claim about the womens’ transformations to witch by connecting their environment to the situation of many young women in the early 20th century: trapped in their monotonous housework. Pointing out that both Wharton's women and 20th century women “went nowhere” and “did nothing but repeat identical tasks in unvaried monotony,” Ammons says the transformation that Mattie, Zeena, and Ethan’s mother undergo in the novella make complete sense. She also says Wharton’s tale addresses the elemental fears and suffering of men too. Wharton uses the tale to show how the insanity which society brings upon women oppress men. Ammons claims that Ethan is a “prisoner” to the responsibility he has to care for his witches (Ammons). Ethan, like many men in the 20th century, had “too much work” to “follow his aspirations” due to the madness which monotony forced the women of his life into. Ammons supports this belief stating that the “Endurance” (Wharton) written on the Frome gravestone represents how both the women and Ethan must “endure” their “monotonous domestic lives” (Ammons).
Counter-claims: Ammons addresses that some critics do not agree that Ethan Frome is a fractured fairy tale revealing the truth of life and addressing human fears. Critics such as Lionel Trilling claim the novella “presents no moral issue at all” (Ammons). She addresses this counterclaim by listing the symbolism and allusions which Wharton added from her original draft in order to publish the story, such as Ethan’s name which allude to Hawthorne’s “Ethan Brand” tale “of a man as alienated from woman” (Ammons). Wharton would not have added allusions and symbolism had the story merely been for entertainment. Ammons explains how critics who “forget” (Ammons) about the oppression which early 20th century women had to endure could easily make the mistake of finding no moral to Ethan Frome. She also proves that Wharton included a moral relevant to her time by pointing out how a criticism published just two years after the story (while women were still oppressed) does identify “the painfulness of Wharton’s story” (Ammons). The social criticism found in Ethan Frome was clear to critics from the storyś time period, with the monotonous environment of womanhood still all around them.
Personal Response: I believe this criticism is spot on with the moral of Ethan Frome. Ammons covers much of what we learned in class explained why Wharton included many elements of the story from an interesting historical and gender lense. The historical lense logically explained why Wharton believed that all women were destined to become witches: in her time, they were. I also like how the gender lense not only interprets from the feminist perspective, but how the criticism also addresses the suffering of men in oppressive environments- an element I believe to be very strong in Ethan Frome. I also agree with the empathetic element of the criticism as it claims that the characters’ suffering is not the fault of any one particular person, but the failure of society and our social system. Ammons claims the social structure of a barren, remote town in New England is to blame for the characters’ hardships, not their choices. She says the isolation forced Zeena and Mattie to become witches, and that Ethan’s suffering was unavoidable, even if he wasn’t somewhat morally pathetic. I too believe that every character in the story deserves sympathy for their suffering- not blame.
Living up to Social Standards
Just like George and Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Ethan and Zeena fail to meet the social norm for marriage during their time period and failure to accept this fact results in the amplification of their problems. Martha treats George horribly and embodies such an arrogant, bold personality, in a sense taking the role of the man of the house, because George does not. She "wears the pants" because "somebody has to." Martha, no doubt influenced by the 1960's ideal of a 'perfect' family, is tortured by George's passiveness, and attempts to compensate for it by taking the role of the dominant male, which society propagated was part of a healthy, normal family. George's failure to be the man of the house prevents Martha from becoming the happy housewife. Likewise, Zeena does not follow the early 20th century role of a perfect, happy housewife. She is selfish and complains, a "fretter." Ethan, just like George, is passive, failing to be the man of the house. He lives in his dreams, and fails to act on his ambitions. The closest he ever gets to having guts is when he clenches a fist at Zeena as if to punch her, but she never feels (or even sees) his fist. Ethan and Zeena, just like George and Martha, cannot live openly as an atypical couple because society would shun them. They cannot divorce because society would shun that too. Pressure to meet social standards which both couples fail results in extreme tension in their marriages, and ultimately is a key piece to the core of their communication issues.
Why do we readers laugh at the Characters in Ethan Frome?
Everyday in class that we read Ethan Frome was a blast; we laughed, poked fun of, and took great entertainment at the pain of the poor characters in the novella. Why did we find their misfortune amusing? Why do we not feel bad for such awful experiences?
Wharton wrote her novella in a way which allows readers to feel sympathy for all three characters. Though readers understand the inevitability of Ethan's imprisonment in dreamland, Zeena's transformation to a witch, and Mattie's trap in Starkfield, they laugh and find comedy in the character's pain anyway. Readers laugh at Ethan, Mattie, Zeena precisely because they understand and fear the feasibility of an inevitably horrible situation such as Ethan Frome. Humans fear fatalism and need a sense of control. At least 75% of the world [1] base their life philosophy on this fear of total fatalism. Christians and Muslims believe one earns their way to heaven through purity and righteous acts in life. Hindu's and Buddhist believe pure behavior is rewarded after reincarnation. People place faith in religions which grant individuals a degree of control over their fate. Ethan Frome questions these beliefs of underlying control in life. All three characters make decisions which they think most righteous at the time, yet all end up punished by their environment anyway. Harmon Gow explains that the uncontrollable environment of Starkfield traps "smart one" such as Ethan into a life of pain, despite their smart choices; Ethan has "been in Starkfield too many winters," (Wharton 13) and the winters imprison him. The reality that an individual could make their understanding of the all smartest choices in life and still end up imprisoned in a cold hell like Starkfield terrifies readers. Individuals laugh at Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie's victimization to fatalism to cope with fear of the exact same fate befalling themselves. People choose laughter over horror. In this aspect, readers are just like George and Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Human conciseness reverts to jokes and laughter to cope with a reality it does not want to accept, just like the troubled married couple uses games to cope with their harsh reality, "when the world sits too heavy" (Albee). Ethan, too, chooses to dream of love with Mattie over the cold reality that they could not live happily ever after; he was "never so happy ... as when he abandoned himself to these dreams" (Wharton 26). Ethan is just like all people; humans choose laughter, games, and dreamed stories over reality because the illusion of control which these methods grant comforts people. Readers laugh at Ethan because control over laughter is far more pleasant than the rouge pain of fatalism.
I believe we differ from these characters, however, in that we understand the nature behind our methods for coping with reality. Even as we laugh at their pain, we understand the laughter is a method of avoiding sympathy for their woes. I believe this simple step of acknowledging the sympathy which the characters deserve sets us readers apart from George, Martha, and Ethan. They do not merely choose illusions over reality; they refuse to acknowledge reality altogether. They, almost literally, live in their illusions. Stories such as Ethan Frome and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf exist to warn readers of the consequences of living in total illusion.
Notes and Quotes
Prologue
Ethan Frome is a legend “but by but from various people” (1)
Therefore is like a fairy tale “each time it was different” (1)
The cold, harsh starkfield winter is like an army at war sieging the village
“February had pitched their white tents” (3)
“Wild Cavalry of March winter” (3)
Lots of characterization for Ethan in this chapter
Pain due to “neither poverty nor physical suffering” (4)
“an incarnation of its [Starkfield’s] frozen woe” (5)
“Ethan Frome drove in silence, the reins loosely held in his left hand, his brown seamed profile, under the the helmet-like peak of the cap, relieved against the banks of snow like the bronze image of a hero” 5
Characterization of Ned Hale
Narrator Visits Frome Home
“Woman’s voice droning querulously”
Zeena is a drone!
“The house was bigger in my father’s time; I had to take down the ‘L,’ a while back” 8
Took down his main source of warmth
House framed by hemlock
Hemlock kills stuff
“...we came to an orchard of starved apple-trees writhing over a hillside among outcroppings of slate that nuzzled up through the snow like animals pushing out their noses to breathe” 7
Apples can represent desire. This is the first sign of a passion/desireless relationship that Ethan might be in.
Chapter 1
Ethan remembers physics course he took at University of Worcester
Had to return to care for Mother
Ethan spies on Mattie through the church window
She wears a “cherry-coloured ‘fascinator’ about her head” (12)
Ethan is in love!
Ethan is jealous of Denis Eady and his look of “impudent ownership” he gives mattie (13)
“conquest of the Starkfield maidenhood” (13)
“invited a horse-whipping” (13)
Ethan walks Mattie back from the Church and she speaks the words to his soul
“it looks just as if it was painted” (14)
Zeena complains about Mattie’s housework and suggests hiring a new girl because Mattie will be off maring Denis Eady soon anyway
Chapter 2
Mattie refuses ride with Denis Eady
Ethan makes his promise to Mattie that they’ll come back and coast someday
He’ll steer them clear of the tree unlike when Ned Hale and Ruth Varnum nearly crashed
Ethan tests Mattie by mentioning her leaving and being satisfied by her distress
Hemlock trees and graveyard here!
Zeena shows up in the door like a witch and shocks Ethan
Some tension before bed between Ethan and Zeena
Chapter 3
Ethan regrets not kissing Mattie the previous night
Mattie’s parents are dead and her father’s business’ failure is how she ended up broke, working for relatives without pay
Zeena announces she plans to leave and stay with her Aunt
Ethan gets excited about the prospect of alone time with Mattie
Ethan tells Zeena that Jotham Powell will take her to the train
He wants every moment he can get with Mattie
Chapter 4
Zeena originally came to help Ethan when his mother went queer
Mother used to be a talker
Zeena is just like Mattie
Ethan originally grateful for the help and company
Ethan and Zeena originally planned to move out of Starkfield, but Zeena got sick
Ethan suspects she faked sickness
Zeena stopped talking except to complain- just like Ethan’s mother
went “queer. Women did, he knew”
He passess Nade Hale and Ruth Varnum kissing- in the same spot he and Mattie had stood last night!
Ethan sees “Endurance” on the gravestone
Mattie greets Ethan at the door just like Zeena greeted them earlier
Mattie and Ethan accidentally touch each other on milk jug
“the cat” breaks Zeena’s pickle dish
Chapter 5
Mattie and Ethan “enjoy” an evening by the fire with Mattie sewing
Exactly like he and Zeena do…
Ethan discusses going sledding with Mattie but relishes too much in the “sense of protection and authority” (38) to notice her disappointment at not actually sledding
“lids sank slowly” (38)
Ethan kisses the end of her fabric- how scandalist!
He makes his second move and they almost touch hands
Ethan “poked aimlessly at the embers” (40)
Mattie seems shocked that Zeena hasn’t spoken to Ethan about her work ethic
“she hasn’t said anything to you”
“Now, in the warm lamp-lit room, with all its ancient implications of conformity and order, she seemed infinitely farther away from him and more unapproachable.” (?)
Chapter 6
Ethan sends Jotham to fetch Zeena once more while he goes into town to get glue to fix the pickle dish- but he does not beat zeena and jotham home
Horse gets injured and Ethan must wash its cut, so Jotham can handle zeena
Zeena goes upstairs without a word
Ethan doesn't bother to check on her
Jotham rejects a free warm dinner because he can sense Zeena’s fury
Chapter 7 - It all goes down!
Ethan goes up to Zeena’s bedroom and finds her sitting “bolt upright” (46)
Ethan finds himself torn between wanting her to die and compassion for Zeena
he is still a good man at the core
recognizes she “wanted sympathy, not consolation” ( 47) and he gives it, somewhat
Ethan declares that a hired girl is on the way by order of the doctor and Mattie must leave
Zeena catches Ethan’s lie about going to see Andrew Hale for 50 dollars
Ethan goes so far as to clench his fist in the brawl!
They can't even see each other- not even fights have passion
“through the obscurity which hid their faces their thoughts seemed to dart at each other like serpents shooting venom” (48)
Ethan tries to convince Zeena by asking “‘what do you suppose folks’ll say of you?’” (50)
“a mysterious alien presence, an evil energy secreted from the long years of silent brooding … she meant to take the one thing” (50-51)
Ethan breaks the news to Mattie bluntly and is “overcome with shame”
Mattie and Ethan weep together as they realize Mattie has nowhere to go; Mattie is “like a broken branch”
Zeena discovers the broken pickle dish and is overcome with grief as it was “‘the one I cared for most of all’” (54)
“short spasm of sobs that passed and left her more than ever like a shape of stone” (54) she is still a witch
Chapter 8
Ethan retreats to the little room he made when he first came back home from Engineering school
Mattie leaves him a note that says “Don’t trouble Ethan” 55
“It was the first time that Mattie had ever written to him, and the possession of the paper gave him a new sense of her nearness; yet it deepened his anguish by reminding him that henceforth they would have no other way of communicating with each other” 55
Ethan thinks about leaving and his options- someone his age shouldn’t be stuck in his kind of predicament- “Confused motions of rebellion stormed in him” 55
Dreams about divorcing Zeena, marrying Mattie, and going west but realizes that this is not possible-FATE-cue the depression
“There was no way out- none. He was a prisoner for life, and now his one ray of light was to be extinguished” 57
Ethan remembers that he was supposed to take Mattie out coasting this night
Ethan then falls asleep and Mattie appears behind him in the morning because she listened all night and didn’t hear him come back upstairs
Ethan concocts plan to extort money from Andrew Hale, but stops when Mrs. Hale says, “You’ve had an awful mean time, Ethan Frome” 60
“He was a poor man, the husband of a sickly woman, whom his desertion would leave alone and destitute; and even if he had had the heart to desert her he could have done so only by deceiving two kindly people who had pitied him. He turned and walked slowly back to the farm” 61
Chapter 9
When Ethan gets back from town, he comes back to find Mattie forced to attempt to lug her suitcase on her own, so he goes up to help her
He finds her sobbing because she thought that she’d never see Ethan again
Ethan actually openly defies Zeena for once and decides that he will be the one to drive Mattie over to the Flats
Zeena doesn’t say goodbye to Mattie
“Ethan, looking slowly about the kitchen, said to himself with a shudder that in a few hours he would be returning to it alone” 65
They stop at the picnic spot by Shadow Pond where Ethan found Mattie’s locket and where Mattie originally started liking him; Ethan came there by accident on the day when Mattie started liking him
Ethan and Mattie begin to talk about their options as their love for each other is now in the open
Mattie shows Ethan that she found the note he had begun to write to Zeena about him leaving and going with Mattie to the west
They go coasting down the hill once and come back up and kiss in the same spot where Ned and Ruth kissed
why did Mattie want to go again- “So’t we’ll never come up any more” 70
After Ethan tells her she’s crazy for contemplating sled suicide“I’m not crazy; but I will be if I leave you” 71
Ethan sits in front
He thinks of the horse at all times
“Oh, Matt, I thought we’d fetched it...I ought to be getting him his feed…” 73
Epilogue
The “querulous drone” 74 could have been either woman
They both ended up as witches
“...and her dark eyes had the bright witch-like stare that disease of the spine sometimes gives” 74
Mattie is paralyzed from the neck down
“There was one day, about a week after the accident, when they all thought Mattie couldn’t live. Well, I say it’s a pity she did. I said it right out to our minister once, and he was shocked at me. Only he wasn’t with me that morning when she first came to...And I say, if she’d ha’ died, Ethan might ha’ lived; and the way they are now, I don’t see’s there’s much difference between the Fromes up at the farm and the Fromes down there in the graveyard; ‘cept that down there they’re all quiet, and the women have got to hold their tongues.” 77 (last words in book)
Ethan Frome
Is “striking” and strong like a prince, but also “a ruin of a man” (1)
“careless powerful” (1)
“how gallantly his lean brown head with its shock of light hair” (2)
He is also imprisoned by something “each step like the jerk of a chain” (1)
Has a mark of greatness “red gash across Ethan Frome’s forehead” (1)
But is it really a mark of greatness? Or rather a mark of fatality? Represents the fact that he had no choice but to sled suicide-fatality
Had a “smash up” which everybody in town remembers the exact date of
It affected the entire community
Perhaps this relates to marriage! Marriage is about the progression of society and they smashed it up- how could society forget?
Is smart but didn't leave starkfield like most do- The harsh winter and isolate of starkfield has had an effect on Ethan
“most of the smart ones get away” (2)
“Guess he’s been in Starkfield too many winters” (2)
profound accumulated cold of many Starkfield winters”
Always caring for others but nobody cares for him
“it’s always Ethan done the caring” (2)
Pain due to “neither poverty nor physical suffering” (4)
“his soul swelled with pride as he saw how his tone had subdued her. She did not even ask what he had done. Except when he was steering a big log down the mountain to his mill he had never known such a thrilling sense of mastery” (36) - When Ethan reassures mattie that the pickle dish is okay
‘I’ve been in a dream, and this is the only evening we’ll ever have together.’ The return to reality was as painful as the return to consciousness after taking an anesthetic” (40)
Zeena Frome
“had grumbled increasingly” (15)
“her silence seemed deliberately assumed to conceal far-reaching intentions” 30
“then she too fell silent. Perhaps it was the inevitable effect of life on the farm, or perhaps, as she sometimes said, it was because Ethan ‘never listened’” (30)
Frome House
“an orchard of starved apple-trees” (7)
Life, rebirth, and desire are all gone
“animals pushing their noses to breathe”
Environment is starving
The New England L is missing- Ethan took it down
“the chief sources of warmth and nourishment” (8)
Ned Hale
She is town gossip machine and judger of sins
Her mansion is symbolic of her position
“stood at one end of the main street … looking down a flagged path between Norway spruces to … the Congregational church” (3)
She can “judge people with detachment” (4) because of “a finer sensibility and a little more education” (4)
She does not speak of Ethan Frome because she feels bad for him
Mattie Silver
She wears a “cherry-coloured ‘fascinator’ about her head” (12)
Notes on Marriage
Table of Contents
Why did Ethan and Zeena not divorce?
Divorce was not an option for Ethan nor Zeena because due to underlying community pressure about the rules and purpose of marriage. In the early 1900’s, marriage was seen not as a path to express one’s love for another, but as a passage to adulthood for the progression of society. In a “proper” marriage, the husband and wife together were to raise their children following set gender roles. The male was to serve as an even-tempered role model for like whom his daughter should marry someday, provide financial support, and discipline children when necessary. He was the ultimate decision maker of the family: confident, decisive, and a leader (though he was also expected to consult to wife regarding major decisions). Ethan failed this role of marriage. He did not provide any children for Zeena, was not decisive or confident, and did not provide financial support. A divorce would have required him to not only fully accept his failure, but would also result in the community discovering his failure of society. He could not face the shame he would have to bear, not only for leaving Zeena financially alone, but for failing to progress society through a ‘proper’ marriage. Zeena, likewise, failed her marital role. Women of the time were to cook delicious meals, keep the house cozy and inviting, and keep their husband morally in line through their love. Zeena was too sick to cook, too tired for housemaking, and too cranky to devote herself to Ethan. She too could not face the shame which would come upon her should she divorce; Zeena failed society because she failed her marriage.
Sources:
Article Analysis: "Ethan Frome as Fairy Tale" by Elizabeth Ammons
Claim: According to Elizabeth Ammons in “Ethan Frome as Fairy Tale”, Edith Wharton uses a fractured fairy tale story in Ethan Frome to teach readers that society, and social interaction in particular, force women to become “witches” (Ammons). Wharton's tale, like all fairy tales, reveals a universal truth about life and addresses elemental human fears. It is fractured because, rather than the prince charming and maiden princess living happily ever after, the maiden princess becomes an evil witch, as the story says all women do.
Support: Ammons supports her claim of Ethan Frome as a fractured fairy tale by highlighting the numerous parallels between the novella and traditional fairy tales. Ammons points out how the story is told as an orally passed on legend in a community, it “belongs to a community of people and has many variants” just like a fairy tale (Ammons). Furthermore, Ammon’s points out Wharton’s fondness for fairy-tale numbers, such as 7, explaining how the story teaches a “natural order” of the world, just like all fairy tales (Ammons). She also highlights Wharton's use of witch, maiden, and prince archetypes. Zeena is the jealous stepmother, a “perfect witch of nursery lore”, Mattie Silver is the maiden princess, proven by the emphasis on her “physical appearance,” and Ethan Frome is the prince charming (Ammons). Ammons supports her claim about the womens’ transformations to witch by connecting their environment to the situation of many young women in the early 20th century: trapped in their monotonous housework. Pointing out that both Wharton's women and 20th century women “went nowhere” and “did nothing but repeat identical tasks in unvaried monotony,” Ammons says the transformation that Mattie, Zeena, and Ethan’s mother undergo in the novella make complete sense. She also says Wharton’s tale addresses the elemental fears and suffering of men too. Wharton uses the tale to show how the insanity which society brings upon women oppress men. Ammons claims that Ethan is a “prisoner” to the responsibility he has to care for his witches (Ammons). Ethan, like many men in the 20th century, had “too much work” to “follow his aspirations” due to the madness which monotony forced the women of his life into. Ammons supports this belief stating that the “Endurance” (Wharton) written on the Frome gravestone represents how both the women and Ethan must “endure” their “monotonous domestic lives” (Ammons).
Counter-claims: Ammons addresses that some critics do not agree that Ethan Frome is a fractured fairy tale revealing the truth of life and addressing human fears. Critics such as Lionel Trilling claim the novella “presents no moral issue at all” (Ammons). She addresses this counterclaim by listing the symbolism and allusions which Wharton added from her original draft in order to publish the story, such as Ethan’s name which allude to Hawthorne’s “Ethan Brand” tale “of a man as alienated from woman” (Ammons). Wharton would not have added allusions and symbolism had the story merely been for entertainment. Ammons explains how critics who “forget” (Ammons) about the oppression which early 20th century women had to endure could easily make the mistake of finding no moral to Ethan Frome. She also proves that Wharton included a moral relevant to her time by pointing out how a criticism published just two years after the story (while women were still oppressed) does identify “the painfulness of Wharton’s story” (Ammons). The social criticism found in Ethan Frome was clear to critics from the storyś time period, with the monotonous environment of womanhood still all around them.
Personal Response: I believe this criticism is spot on with the moral of Ethan Frome. Ammons covers much of what we learned in class explained why Wharton included many elements of the story from an interesting historical and gender lense. The historical lense logically explained why Wharton believed that all women were destined to become witches: in her time, they were. I also like how the gender lense not only interprets from the feminist perspective, but how the criticism also addresses the suffering of men in oppressive environments- an element I believe to be very strong in Ethan Frome. I also agree with the empathetic element of the criticism as it claims that the characters’ suffering is not the fault of any one particular person, but the failure of society and our social system. Ammons claims the social structure of a barren, remote town in New England is to blame for the characters’ hardships, not their choices. She says the isolation forced Zeena and Mattie to become witches, and that Ethan’s suffering was unavoidable, even if he wasn’t somewhat morally pathetic. I too believe that every character in the story deserves sympathy for their suffering- not blame.
Living up to Social Standards
Just like George and Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Ethan and Zeena fail to meet the social norm for marriage during their time period and failure to accept this fact results in the amplification of their problems. Martha treats George horribly and embodies such an arrogant, bold personality, in a sense taking the role of the man of the house, because George does not. She "wears the pants" because "somebody has to." Martha, no doubt influenced by the 1960's ideal of a 'perfect' family, is tortured by George's passiveness, and attempts to compensate for it by taking the role of the dominant male, which society propagated was part of a healthy, normal family. George's failure to be the man of the house prevents Martha from becoming the happy housewife. Likewise, Zeena does not follow the early 20th century role of a perfect, happy housewife. She is selfish and complains, a "fretter." Ethan, just like George, is passive, failing to be the man of the house. He lives in his dreams, and fails to act on his ambitions. The closest he ever gets to having guts is when he clenches a fist at Zeena as if to punch her, but she never feels (or even sees) his fist. Ethan and Zeena, just like George and Martha, cannot live openly as an atypical couple because society would shun them. They cannot divorce because society would shun that too. Pressure to meet social standards which both couples fail results in extreme tension in their marriages, and ultimately is a key piece to the core of their communication issues.
Why do we readers laugh at the Characters in Ethan Frome?
Everyday in class that we read Ethan Frome was a blast; we laughed, poked fun of, and took great entertainment at the pain of the poor characters in the novella. Why did we find their misfortune amusing? Why do we not feel bad for such awful experiences?
Wharton wrote her novella in a way which allows readers to feel sympathy for all three characters. Though readers understand the inevitability of Ethan's imprisonment in dreamland, Zeena's transformation to a witch, and Mattie's trap in Starkfield, they laugh and find comedy in the character's pain anyway. Readers laugh at Ethan, Mattie, Zeena precisely because they understand and fear the feasibility of an inevitably horrible situation such as Ethan Frome. Humans fear fatalism and need a sense of control. At least 75% of the world [1] base their life philosophy on this fear of total fatalism. Christians and Muslims believe one earns their way to heaven through purity and righteous acts in life. Hindu's and Buddhist believe pure behavior is rewarded after reincarnation. People place faith in religions which grant individuals a degree of control over their fate. Ethan Frome questions these beliefs of underlying control in life. All three characters make decisions which they think most righteous at the time, yet all end up punished by their environment anyway. Harmon Gow explains that the uncontrollable environment of Starkfield traps "smart one" such as Ethan into a life of pain, despite their smart choices; Ethan has "been in Starkfield too many winters," (Wharton 13) and the winters imprison him. The reality that an individual could make their understanding of the all smartest choices in life and still end up imprisoned in a cold hell like Starkfield terrifies readers. Individuals laugh at Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie's victimization to fatalism to cope with fear of the exact same fate befalling themselves. People choose laughter over horror. In this aspect, readers are just like George and Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Human conciseness reverts to jokes and laughter to cope with a reality it does not want to accept, just like the troubled married couple uses games to cope with their harsh reality, "when the world sits too heavy" (Albee). Ethan, too, chooses to dream of love with Mattie over the cold reality that they could not live happily ever after; he was "never so happy ... as when he abandoned himself to these dreams" (Wharton 26). Ethan is just like all people; humans choose laughter, games, and dreamed stories over reality because the illusion of control which these methods grant comforts people. Readers laugh at Ethan because control over laughter is far more pleasant than the rouge pain of fatalism.
I believe we differ from these characters, however, in that we understand the nature behind our methods for coping with reality. Even as we laugh at their pain, we understand the laughter is a method of avoiding sympathy for their woes. I believe this simple step of acknowledging the sympathy which the characters deserve sets us readers apart from George, Martha, and Ethan. They do not merely choose illusions over reality; they refuse to acknowledge reality altogether. They, almost literally, live in their illusions. Stories such as Ethan Frome and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf exist to warn readers of the consequences of living in total illusion.
Notes and Quotes
PrologueChapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7 - It all goes down!
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Ethan Frome
Zeena Frome
Frome House
Ned Hale
Mattie Silver
Denis Eady